Suture package



NOV. 11, 1952 ZQLLER 2,617,523

SUTURE PACKAGE Filed March 16, 1950 INVENTOR %W,421J FZoLL2.

Patented Nov. 11, 1952 'ztozaEthi'con; vSiItm'esLaboratories,sh:corporated, :1 corpora-tioniofflew Jersey amiiieatianmarahis, 1SSOIFSeriaFNG:1493381 =4 iGiaimsh (e1. me -ssh) The present invention'relate's to a suture hack- -age and 'm Ofe particularly-relates "to a "suture package"ada'p ted tocbhtain:suture strands which may he sterilizefi ntheifiakageand withdrawn fcr use as desired. 'It isfinderstdofthat stitures are used under circumstances "-di-iferent fromli'ga- 't'ures, but the *WOId "sr1'turewill b'e'-used hereinafter as a matter ofconvenience to iridieate eit her sutures or ligatures.

Textile suture materialssuch as silk, cotton, "nylon; linen-and others have' been packaged and supplied to'the' surge'on' in th'e form of a continuoussstra'nd ona s oo1; and although such practice has zaachieved acceptance by the surgical profession-termin disadvantages are inherent therein. It has beenmecessary tosteri-1ize -a= spoo1' of such "material or toremove and cut thes-uture material into lengths b'e'fore sterilization; but this is timecon's'umin'g, ineiiicient, and wasteful because imused-strands are' norm'ally'discarded. The sterili- :z'atio'n O'f-i'a' whole' spoo'lof-textile sutures followed :by th'efciittingw defini-teiength's f-rom the spool'iii "theoperatirrg room is inccnvehient :-since'-=it adds another detail to the complicated procedurean :cperatin'gul-b'ein.

'It is an iobject-i'of this invention tb' provide suture package that will bbviate the necessity- 6]? ciittingzstrandsof s'lltllles' from a spool of 'subh "material.

-It is another obj'ectro'fr this invention to provide ianreconomic and eflici'ent suture package containing strands ofisuture material.

.It i .istilkanother object I of this inVentien tO pro'vid'e iassuture package 'containi 'ng strands "of suture z-imaterial which may be" read-ilyr-and re- "peatedlyzsterilized.

3' It: is *an'others-an'd" further obi ect or this invention tozpr'ovide-a"suture'pack'age containing suture strandsl'wh'ich may b'e' readily and repea-t'ed'ly i-withdrawnWith-minimum oppertun'itie'sfor contar'nin atio'rrofthe 'remaimingsuture'strands in the suture package from outside sources.

The -'invention' contemplates -a suture package comprising an envelope-and a carrier for suture s'tran'd's havinga reel about'wliichsuturestrands are woundand a clamping member pivoted to and integral With the' reel. "I'hiz i:arrier is of such a size that it' s lides freel *i'fito f theenvlbpe' and mayreadil? be Withdrawn. "'ille-inventionfiirther contemplates -a reel having a structure ada bted to facifitate'ready'and'repeated-removal of one"or'fnrmre s1'1t'11re strands. An important feature of the invention is that itp'rovides a pack- 'age iorsutiire' strands"in*which" the strands and iaarticiilarly the ends of the-strafids-ere held in .2 place between thereelarid -the*ciamping member and: db not become "'s'na'rl'e'd d entangled-even after repeated-sliding o'f the carrier "manu- Gilt of the envelope fOr' re'rnQVaI o'f stran'ds -froin the package. *The invention further contemplates the' novel construction, combination and 'arrah'gement 'cf parts hereinafter deser-ib'e'dmore fillly'a'hd 'shb'wn in the accompanying drawing iii-Which:

Fig. l'is' a fragmentary perspective i'zle'w O'f a package -em'bo'dyihg ei1e form of "the invention;

'Fig. :2 is" a plan of a pack-age artly b'roke'n way and showing relative positionsofihe parts of a sea-led package; I

Fig. 3 is aplan'ofa carrier sho'W-ing-thehbsi'tion of the suturestran'd's on'the reel; Fig; 4' is an enlarged section 4 40f Figi 2; v r

Fig. '5 is aplan of the env'elop'e' blaxik o'fthe suture package;

'Fig. 6-is a plan of'the carrierblahk Fig. '7 is an enlarged section taken along li-iie "l-'l"of-'Fig'i 2. v

R'eferr-ing nowwithparticu-lar-itytothe embodimentof the invention-illustrated the draw ihgis, in 1 Fig.'-2 the closed sutiire' package is-shewn as it is before or afte'r sterilization. rmvemp'e I 'of" the suture package-is preferably composed of paper which isypermeable-tb steam to; facilitate sterilizing ofthe seizure-package and its contents ='when it is closed -and sealed. :Theenvelepws'hbii-la not be wax-coatedor-b1astic-coated-as such coating lowers permeability "to steam. Paper which darkens on exposure to-stearn during sterilization is preferred since this readily injdicate's'thatthe sliturepackage has'be'emsterilized; 'The'envelope has snap-{5; also shown i'rr-Fig; 5; which has -sufi'icient lengthi order tocofnbletely seal'the carrier within thesa-id en'velupe. Fig. 5 showsthe en'- velope blankbfere i'tflis fabricated intothe finished envelope; Fig. "qshows the "carrier -b1ank comprisingreer's amrclampmg member I9.

In assembling the suture backage, sut11 re taken along iin'e strands are wound-aboutrelfi so that'at least one sneer each strand "isi p'ositioned between the opposite sides or the"reel, jand in so doi'n g' the strands overla ;tnemsmpormons -orth =ih eads *and run "a" diTeCtiOh ODLJOSRF t0 *tht 6f ""th' wholly within the envelope without any or it may- The desired readily grasped and pulled said main portions of the threads, as illustrated in Fig. 3. In one form of the invention the end portions of the threads are positioned in a recessed portion H at the bottom of the reel, but the bottom of the reel may be rectilinear in shape. With the suture strands in position on the reel, the carrier is folded along the dotted line, as illustrated in Fig. 6, so that the strands, and particularly the ends of the strands, come in contact with clamping member Id. The folded carrier with the suture strands in position is then inserted into the envelope and in so doing the end portions of the suture strands, as illustrated in Fig. 4, are tightly held between the clamping member and the reel and between one side of the envelope and the reel. The carrier is of such a size in relation to the envelope that when it is in position and fully inserted in the envelope, it is wholly within the envelope, asv

illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4, and the suture strands are consequently wholly within the envelope. The carrier may be repeatedly partially removed from the envelope and replaced displacement, snarling and entanglement of the strands because of the action of the clamping member in firmly holding the ends of the strands against the reel when the carrier slides back and forth in the envelope. Clamping member IQ of the carrier is of such length that it fills the envelope with tongue portion 1 completely inside the envelope portion 9 protruding out of the envelope but not above envelope flap 5. The suture package is closed by folding tongue tip portion 9 along the dotted line, shown in Figs. 3 and 9, so that this portion is positioned on the outside of the envelope but is covered when envelope flap 5 is folded down and sealed to the envelope, as illustrated in Fig. 4.

Thegcompletely assembled and sealed suture package may be sterilized and transported to the operating room, where it is opened when sutures are needed. When envelope flap 5 is unsealed and folded back, tongue tip portion 9 is available to be grasped; and by pulling outwardly on the said tongue tip portion, the carrier may be withdrawn to a point illustrated in Fig. 1, or to a point such that the ends of the suture strands are exposed. After the desired number ofstrands are withdrawn, the carrier may be pushed back into the envelope and the envelope flap foldedover to prevent contamination of the suture strandsfrom the atmosphere or other external sources.

The top of reel 3 may be rectilinear in shape have at least one convexity at the top, but in the preferred embodiment of the invention the reel has at the top a concavity l3 and a concavity IS with a convexity between the two vconcavities. The construction of the carrier is such, as explained above, that the strands are held tightly'in position around the reel portion against the envelope on ,one. side and against the clamping member on the other side. It is preferably when placing suture strands onv the reel portion that they be positioned in concavity l3, and when in this position, removal of one or more strands is accomplished by sliding the desired number of strands over the convexity between theconcavities into concavity l5, which, in the preferred embodiment, is deeper than storage notch 13. strand or strands may then be out of .the assembly,

but with tongue tip concavity, having a modate the number of suture strands desired to as illustrated in Fig. 1. While it is preferred, for ease of removal of the strands, to have concavity l5 deeper than concavity 13, said withdrawal may be made when the two concavities have the same depth.

It is contemplated that the strands. may be removed by withdrawing the carrier out of the envelope partially and to an'extent suflicient to expose the ends of the strands, and. that one or more strands may be grasped by the ends and pulled out of the suture package. When this method of removal of the strands is practiced, the provision of two concavities at the top of the reel does not facilitate removal of strands from the suture package but it is preferred that at the top of the reel there be one width suflicient to accombe contained in the suture package, to assist in keeping the suture strands in their proper position about the reel. V w

- While the invention has been shown and described to some degree with particularity and reference to specific embodiments, it is nevertheless to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to any of the specific embodiments described and illustrated, but it is to be construed broadly and restricted only by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A surgical suture package comprising an envelope and a suture carrier slidable in the envelope; the carrier including two elongated panels, one shorter than the other, and integrally hinged along a longitudinal edge, and a plurality of suture strands wound on said short panel, each strand wound only once over one end of the shorter panel and having their ends turned around and up from opposite sides of the other end of the said shorter panel such that one end of each strand is disposed between the two panels, the two panels pressing against the strands disposed between them when the carrier is in the envelope.

2. A surgical suture package comprising an envelope and a suture carrier slidable in the envelope; the carrier including two elongated panels, one shorter than the other, and integrally hinged along a longitudinal edge, the shorter panel notched at each end; and a plurality of suture strands wound on said short panel, each strand woundvonly once over one end and in the notch of the shorter panel and having their ends turned around in the notch andup from opposite sides of the other end of the said shorter panel such that one end of each strand is disposed between the two panels, the two panels pressing against the strands disposed between them when the carrier is in the envelope.

3. A surgical suture package comprising an envelope and a suture carrier slidable in the envelope; the carrier including two elongated panels, one shorter than the other, and integrally hinged along a longitudinal edge,.theshorter panel having two notches of unequal depth at one end; and a plurality of suture strands wound on said short panel, each strand wound only once over the notched end and in the notch of least depth and having thier ends turned around and up from opposite sides of the other end of the said shorter panel such that one end of each strand is disposed between the two panels, the panels pressing against the strands disposed between them when the carrier is in the envelope.

4. A surgical suture package comprising an S envelope and a suture carrier slidable in the envelope; the carrier including two elongated panels, one shorter than the other, and integrally hinged along a longitudinal edge, the shorter panel having two notches of unequal depth at one end and a single notch at the other end; and a plurality of suture strands wound on said short panel, each strand wound only once over the double notched end and in the notch of least depth and having their ends turned around in the notch and up from opposite sides of the other end of the said shorter panel such that one end of each strand is disposed between the two panels,

lope.

The following references HCWARD F. ZOLLER.

REFERENCES CITED are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Randall June 20, 1933 Themak Mar. 18, 1947 

